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Coming out of the book is bearberry, best known by one of its Indian names, kinikinik . Its Ojibwe name is saga-ko-minagunj, "berry with spikes on it". The leaves were smoked and used as headache remedies. A tea made of dried leaves had verious medical uses. Berries, which survive all winter in the snow, were emergency food, and were used to make a tea. Discover native medical and food uses, and chemical composition of this plant by fooling around with the database, here. And here's a tnative plants/medical database -- pick a categopry from the list window -- tribe and you'll see long list of every plant somebody once said they used for medicine. Or problem (what all did everyone use for that?) Then click on a plant (botanical name are used) and find out what use, who said it, when. Just generally fool around and learn about this useful resource.

Dover reprint of report compiled between 1908-20. Despite its general title the Natives are Ojibwe, from White Earth, Cass Lake, Mille Lacs and Grand Portage, Minnesota; Lac Courte Oreilles, Wisconsin; and Manitou Rapids, Ontario, Canada. Densmore, unlike most male anthros, was a musicologist, who was also very interested in foods, medicines and crafts. Her plant compilations are a model that (unfortunately) often wasn't followed by later men collecting plant info. Of course most ethnographers didn't have the collaboration of a Native woman like Mary Warren English of White Earth. Whatever tribe you are, this book is a model, a pace-setter, and a price-bargain. 396 pages, many cross-rerencing tables,the best that could be done with that before computers. Densmore is the only ethnobotanist to suggtest a little of the complexity of preparing herbal medicines, which for Ojibwe women, were complex compounds of roots and bark prepared in special ways, steeped in particular amounts of hot water, and given in prescribed dosages. Don't fool around with this stuff on your own! There's a brief section on foods (she covers foods in more detail in Chippewa Customs), and a lot of very good info on plants used for dyes of quills, and later fabrics (hides were painted with a grease-and-minerals paint, not dyed).

Many plant images, are maintained by Southwest School of Botanical Medicine,. headed by Michael Moore, author of the above plant books. Major plant photos, engravings, drawings imagebase gateway. and on-line manuals of use. More than a thousand quality plant pix are accessible by botanic, common name and (some) by Spanish-name indexes. Moore is highly knowledgeable and has studied deeply in native plant lore (but has gone beyond old writings in his own explorations). His approach is scientific, not mystical. Very good color photos, his own, and those by Mimi Camp, accurate habitat descriptions and correct universal botanic names make all of the above books good field handbooks for their respective regions.

These are studies -- mostly pretty technical -- by anthros, paleontologists (study deep layers of earth and bones of earth), primatologists (study monkey and apes and distant furry relatives of us hairless primates ) and ethnobiologists (study indigenous biology knowledge).. They explore from many different scientific perspectives issues such as tribal consumption of unpalatable and famine foods; comparison of aboriginal and later arrivals' diets; self-treatment with pcertain lants by sick animals. Some articles are tough going, some are easy. I liked the one about the so-called cave-man diet (mostly plants) and the argument that all of us are genetically programmed after millions of yearsto eat this way, instead of how we do now.

Bargain price for this 1990 reprint of Vogel's 1970 classic compilation from masses of old anthros' papers. Every white writer on Indian medicine and herbology has stolen from Vogel ever since. Classic compendium by well-known Native scholar. Vogel uses medical practices as a lens to focus on changing relationships between invading whites and natives, as well as discussing practical and pharmacological bases of plant-based healing and remedies.

Emphasis is on medicines rather than foods. Book is organized by condition or problem, listing herbal remedies of various tribes for each.How they
were prepared (very sparse) and methods of identification (sketches, not always
clear). Last section of the book is more interesting, the plants shown and told about there are usable today. Plants indexed by common and botanical names, and by "remedies" which no one should try to use. No Indian names. Seems simplistic. See my longer review on the amazon.com page.

Ix Chel Farms and the Panti Medicinal Trail--American woman doctor Rosita Arvigio and 92-year-old Belize Mayan healer Don Eligio Panti started school and botannical plant reserve in the '80's. in Belize. Panti died in 1996, but the school he and Dr. Rosita started continue.

The Handbook is a portable field companion with plant ID's. 125 North American herbs covered, kitchen as well as medical. Indian Herbology of North America by Hutchens covers more than 200 plants in more detail, the emphasis there is entirely medical.

Identifies and illustrates (in line drawings and color plates) 100 plants found today on the Navajo Reservation. Each is identified by an English, Latin, and Navajo name. A description of each plant's use as a food, emetic, dye, etc., is also given. Until now, there has been no comprehensive reference on plants of the Navajo Reservation. This book is valuable to both amateur and seasoned botanist in the Southwest, in addition to others interested in health remedies and Navajo folklore and culture. Published by Navajo community College Press.

This outrageously-priced book comes from research (mostly compiled from other people's writings) funded by the Canadian government. The anthros who wrote it on government tick have the nerve to say they know First Nations Reserve people are quite poor -- so here's some info that can help them eat better. Yah, poor reserve residents gonna buy a $90 book, sure. Turner, BTW is an anthro who thinks kinikinnik and tobacco are "narcotics" when BC Indians smoke 'em, anyway. Look out! Here they come again. . . . See Review

This is a reissue of a book Kavasch published in the early 1970's. It impressed me back then, but I believe its botanic info would now strike me shallow, smiplistic and inaccurate. The recipes are better done in Kavasch's newer book, Enduring harvests (on the Food and Cookbooks shelf, here.

CLOVER (Trifolium pratensis , prairie common red clover) shown in the left margin, like all the clovers, was a common food for all tribes in areas where it grows. Its Ojibwe name is basibuguk, "small leaves". In 1919, a U.S. Department of Agriculture survey showed that many tribes had cultivated it by irrigating the areas where it grew. California Pomos held special sacred clover feasts and dances in the early spring to celebrate clover's appearance. New clover was eaten raw, and fresh blossoms were eaten raw or dried, dipped in salt water. The plants were also boiled, usually with other greens, and baked in rock ovens. A report from the Mayo Clinic, in Minnesota, in the mid-1960's indicated that clover contains an effective anti-coagulant, that has found uses in treating coronary thrombosis. This table shows the chemical composition of red clover. You can fool around with the other databases, and discover many tribal food and medical uses, and a citator of writings about this.

Native Americans and the Environment Hundreds of relevant site links, bibliography of published materials; some fulltext articles and booklets reside at this site, maintained by Prof .Alyx Dark